Egg yolk extenders and replacers are well known in the art. They generally comprise various materials of grain or dairy origin in combination with various gums and emulsifiers. It is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 1,762,077, issued June 3, 1930 that lecithin emulsified with food fat can replace egg yolks. Egg yolks can be extended up to 50% by the use of equal parts of egg yolk and lecithin emulsified with twice the amount of water (1 part lecithin - 2 parts water) as is disclosed in British Pat. No. 392,789, accepted May 25, 1933. Alien Property Custodian, 274,000 to Kramers, published May 4, 1943 discloses an egg substitute of casein, lecithin, fatty oils and optionally, a gum. However, it was found in Germany during World War II, that soybean lecithin cannot fully replace egg yolk in baked goods (Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, 2nd Edition, 1965, Vol. 12, page 356). In addition, most bakers prefer not to use lecithin because it is sticky and difficult to handle.
Egg yolks have also been extended for use in some areas by the use of full fat soy flour. The main problem with the use of full fat soy flour is the inability of the baker to replace the egg yolk in his recipe on an equal weight basis without modification of the recipe. Full fat soy flour is unusable as a general egg yolk extender.
Generally, use of egg yolk extenders requires a modification of the recipe to obtain the required functional replacement of the egg yolk. The egg yolk extender should provide the emulsification and water binding characteristics of the egg yolk replaced. If the water binding characteristics are different from egg yolk, the baker's recipe will require modification in the amount of liquid added.
Since egg yolk provides various functions, one or more of which may be required in any specific recipe, the formulation of a general egg yolk extender requires consideration of all the areas in which egg yolk is useful and the functions which it performs in those areas. Most known egg yolk extenders do not provide the generality of use desirable. Thus, the use of some egg yolk extenders is limited. It would be commercially desirable to provide an egg yolk extender which can be used to replace egg yolk on an equal weight and functional basis without the need for modifying the recipe with regard to critical aspects such the water content.
These problems have been overcome with a formulated composition of numerous ingredients as disclosed in Lynn U.S. Pat. No. 3,864,500, issued Feb. 4, 1975 (Application Ser. No.: 381,416, filed July 23, 1973, which was a CIP of Ser. No. 144,228, filed May 17, 1971). Lynn requires the use of a high protein material as the starting material for his egg extender composition. The high protein material is prepared in accordance with Lynn U.S. Pat. No. 3,697,290 issued Oct. 10, 1972 (Ser. No. 879,717, filed Nov. 25, 1969, which was a CIP of Ser. No. 846,428, filed July 31, 1969). The high protein material is prepared by a process including the steps of:
1. simmering a non-elastic protein material such as sesame flour in salted oil;
2. adding a mild acid such as citric acid to bring out flavor;
3. adding water, vegetables, followed by boiling;
4. adding additional water and non-elastic protein material (sesame) and continued boiling; and
5. adding a thickening agent, continuing boiling to form the high protein material.
To this is then added a food grade emulsifier; an appearance agent or spice mix containing coloring agents such as carotene, turmeric and annatto; texturizing agents such as alginates or carrageenan; lecithin and a neutralizer such as sodium bicarbonate. It is taught in the Lynn patent that this material will effectively extend egg yolk. However, this material has certain disadvantages in that it requires the use of a starting material which must be prepared by a complicated time consuming and, therefore, costly process. It would be more advantageous if an egg yolk extender could be prepared using a less complex process.